Kitaku
by HoneyBunch
Summary: Two years after Third Impact, things return to normal. Rei comes back and together, her and Shinji discover what love is. Meanwhile, other nations want to have the EVAs and pilots for their own. This time, humans are the enemy.


**Kitaku**

I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of the plots, characters or stories therein. Studio Gainax, Hideaki Anno and Cartoon Network have that privilege.

Please, criticize! The more I get, the better I'll write! The better I write, the more you'll like it!

**Chapter One**

_Futame_

On the edge of a still pond, a girl awoke.

She was not an ordinary girl. For one brief, eternal moment, she had been divine.

She shuddered at the memory.

Divinity was costly, and she had not found it worth the price. She had determined that her humanity was too precious to be sacrificed for godhood.

So here she was.

_I am I_.

_I am only_.

_I am not Lilith. _

_I am not Rei I, Rei II, Rei III. _

_I am Rei Ayanami_.

_I am whole. _

Rei Ayanami had just reached a decision. She would return to Tokyo-3.

-----

Shinji Ikari sat down heavily on the leftmost edge of the couch. He liked the new couch, and the new apartment. It helped him relax, and God, was he ready to relax. It had been a trying day. No Angels, but in many ways, teenage girls were just as bad. He desperately needed some downtime.

Unfortunately, his roommate had other ideas.

"So Ikari, you going to ask Zokumei out on a date?" Asuka taunted from the kitchen.

"No," Shinji said, eyes downcast, a blush spreading across his face.

"Why not? She's been staring at you all lovey-dovey for the past week, and you still don't have the spine to make a move?" Asuka asked, annoyed as she came and sat down in the middle of the couch. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry," Shinji replied meekly.

"No you're not," Asuka glared at him, her eyes narrowing. "If you were _sorry_, you'd do something about that girl, not sit around moping because she _likes you_." Asuka took a swig of the soda she had gotten from the fridge and continued, "You know, most guys would kill to have a girl like Zokumei. You're not gay. I _know_ you think she's sexy. I heard you talking about her with Touji." Shinji just kept his eyes fixed on some point on the floor as Asuka continued, "She's smart enough. Not perfect grades, or anything, but she's no dunce. And she's one of the nicest girls in the school. Almost as sickeningly nice as _you_, actually. So why the hell don't you ask her out?" Asuka finished, knowing that there was no way Shinji could get out of answering this one.

Shinji took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly, "Well… I–" a sound came from the kitchen. "Oh, hey Misato!" Shinji happily interrupted himself, waving to his savior.

Asuka scowled. _Grabbing some coffee, of course. I almost liked her better when she was still drinking._

_Damn it! I let him get away again! _

"So, how was school?" asked Misato with an exaggerated display of interest, plopping down on the couch with her beer in hand and sandwiching Asuka between herself and Shinji.

"Fine," Shinji replied curtly, hoping that his guardian wouldn't ask any more. He'd had enough embarrassment for one day.

Regrettably, Misato didn't have to ask.

"The girls in the locker room didn't think it was _fine_," Asuka leered, wearing an almost feral grin that Shinji was all too familiar with.

"That wasn't my fault!" Shinji said frantically. "You _pushed_ me!"

Asuka's grin only widened. "Really? I would have thought you'd be too busy enjoying the view to notice a little thing like _that_."

Shinji blushed, stammering, "I- I didn't look!"

"Not _much_, anyway," Asuka smirked.

Misato decided it was time to put a stop to this repartee, but that didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun too. "So Shinji, any of them catch your eye? That class rep probably has a cute–"

"–Misato!" both teens cried out indignantly.

-----

Rei Ayanami was attracting quite a few stares as she walked down the Tokyo-3 sidewalk. Of course, the graceful, self-confident manner in which she carried herself was decidedly conspicuous. Her strange complexion often got some attention. On occasion, passerby would recognize her as a pilot, although NERV had tried its best to keep the faces of the Children out of the papers. However, none of these attributes was what was currently generating so much interest.

It had more to do with her total lack of clothing.

Rei, of course, paid no mind to the stares she was receiving, which were alternately lustful and disapproving. She simply continued to walk towards her destination.

However, she soon encountered an obstacle.

-----

Misato was roused out of her much needed sleep by a sharp knock on the door. She sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Asuka, could you get that?" she asked as she lay back down on the couch and tried to get back to sleep.

"Fine, whatever," Asuka replied as she stomped towards the door. Upon opening it, she let out a gasp, "_Mein Gott!_ Wondergirl?" Rei stood in front of the door, dressed in a t-shirt and sweat pants and accompanied by a very anxious looking policeman.

"I must speak to Misato," Rei said, paying no mind to the police officer standing nervously at her side. The officer had handled similar jobs many times over the course of his career, but he had never before found any of his charges to be so calm while being arrested. Not surprisingly, he found Rei's attitude extremely disconcerting.

"So you disappear for two years and now you expect Misato to come chat with you and your policeman friend?" Asuka asked venomously.

"Yes. I expect Misato to talk to me," she said. A small frown appeared on her face as she continued, "However, the omawari is not my friend."

"Of course you're not friends with this porikou. You're not friends with anybody," spat Asuka. Rei's only reaction to Asuka's taunting was a minute deepening of her frown.

Meanwhile, the officer was getting tired of getting held up by a sixteen year old. He decided it was time for a display of authority.

"Young woman," he said sternly, "this is police business. We need to speak with your guardian as soon as possible."

Displaying her usual grace, Asuka snorted and said, "Whatever. She's sleeping on the couch." She turned around and began walking toward her room. "Try not to get her annoyed. She can be cranky when she's hung-over," she finished as she closed the door to her room.

Rei walked into the room with the policeman trailing behind her. Misato was not sleeping. She was sitting bolt upright on the couch and looking in Rei's direction as if she'd just seen a ghost. Which, from her point of view, was not so far off.

"R-Rei?" she said, feebly.

"Hello, Misato-san," Rei said, calmly.

"You're alive?" Misato asked, still very flustered by the girl's sudden appearance.

"Yes, I am presently living," Rei answered.

Misato regained her senses enough to notice the policeman standing apprehensively behind Rei. "What is he doing here?" she asked, looking distrustfully at the officer, who was getting more nervous by the second.

"I am under arrest, Misato-san," Rei said flatly.

Misato's looked back to Rei with a shocked expression. "What for?" she asked, not sure how _Rei_ would possibly do anything to get herself arrested.

"Public lewdness," Rei said, narrowing her eyes slightly as she continued, "Although I think that term is, in my case, a misnomer."

The police officer once again decided it was time to speak up. "The girl was parading around in broad daylight," he glanced down at Rei before finishing, "_completely naked_."

This was a little too much for Misato. "Rei?"

Rei's mouth formed a faint frown. "I was not being lewd, Misato. I had no clothing to wear."

"Oh," Misato said, relieved. She could imagine Rei doing something like that. Then she scowled again. "So why are you _here_?"

"I was asked if there was anyone who might be willing to pay my bail. You were the only option with any viability. You could not be reached by phone."

"Yeah, I know, I need to pay the bill. But that wasn't what I was asking. Why are you back here, now, after disappearing for _two years_?" Misato asked, a trace of anger creeping into her voice.

Rei ignored Misato's tone. "Because this is the earliest I was able to return."

"From _where_?" Misato said, heatedly.

Rei frowned, "I will not tell you."

Misato made a noise that sounded very much like a low growl.

Oblivious to Misato's attitude, Rei asked, "When will Iraki-kun return? His presence is desirable."

-----

Shinji opened the door to the apartment. He opened his mouth to yell out a hello. When he saw the girl sitting at the kitchen table in front of him, he forgot to close both.

Instead, he just stared at her from the open doorway with his jaw hanging.

Rei spoke. "Are you feeling unwell, Ikari-kun? Your complexion is pale."

Her voice brought Shinji back to reality. At least, he hoped it was reality. It seemed almost too good to be true. He stepped inside, closed the door and his jaw, and took a tentative, nervous step forward.

"Ayanami?" he said, in a small voice. He was half expecting her to disappear if he got too close.

Rei stood up, a rare look of concern on her face. "Shinji-kun, you seem to be in ill health. I will need to identify the problem and call a doctor."

Shinji was confused. "Ayanami, I'm fine. I just… I mean, I didn't know you'd be–" he cut himself off as Rei took another step forward and placed her palm on his forehead. She held it there.

As she held it there, Shinji took a deep, shuddering breath.

_No, this girl is not Mother. _

_Not Lilith. _

_Rei. _

_It doesn't matter what genes she is composed of or what soul she carries. She is Rei, and I will not leave her again. _

Rei withdrew her hand. She started speaking. "You do not have seem to have a fever, Iraki-san. I recommend–"

Shinji leaned forward slightly and enveloped her in a tight hug. Rei stiffened for a moment, then began to relax. She kept her arms at her sides, allowing him to hug her, but offering nothing in return.

Shinji's face was close by her ear.

She could hear the shame in his voice as he whispered, "Rei, I'm sorry." His breath tickled the inside of his ear. His apology touched her emotions.

Slowly, hesitantly, she brought her arms up to loosely encircle Shinji. When he felt them, she heard a gasp.

Shinji hugged her tighter.

Again, he whispered.

"Thank you, Rei. Thank you for forgiving me."

Author's Note:

Just to clear up any possible confusion, this is not a one-shot. It is set post Third Impact. It is also a Shinji/Rei romance fic, among other things. If you have a problem with that couple, I suggest you avoid reading this fic.

I would like to extend an open invitation and request for beta-readers. If you would like to take up the job, contact me at the email address given in my profile. I have three main areas I would like my beta-readers to be able to handle. If you think you can handle any one of these areas, please volunteer your services. Even if you are not interested, you may want to read the following paragraphs anyway, as they contain clues as to the direction of this fiction.

The first is plot. I don't want anything in this story to conflict with the Evangelion universe. I also would like to avoid conflicts with my own story. This will become more and more difficult as the story progresses. By the way, this story is set in a post-Third Impact world. I will explain how this world came to exist in its current state in later chapters. There will not be any more angels. This is not to say that there will not be conflict. The conflict, however, will be human/human, not human/angel.

The second area is characterization. I feel I did well this chapter. It might seem, at first glance, as though Shinji is too open with his emotions. This can be justified, however, because he feels he betrayed Rei. Near the end of the show, after he discovered her origins, he was afraid of her. He abandoned her. I think he would still feel guilty about that. I fear that Rei, on the other hand, may be displaying too much emotion too soon. Tell me what you think, whether as a beta-reader or reviewer.

Finally, I would greatly appreciate a reader who could tell me when I had butchered my portrayal of Japanese culture. I try to do my research so that my depiction will be accurate, but sometimes I don't get information as definite as I might like. So, please, if someone could come tell me when I used a word wrong, or when I misrepresented a Japanese holiday, or when he I got Japanese attitudes wrong, that would be greatly appreciated.

I would also like it if my beta-reader was able to correct on any spelling or grammar errors. However, that is not absolutely necessary.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Have fun, until next time.


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